They agreed with my argument and decreased the property value by 40k! 

If it is negative then it decreases returns.One might ask “what do you mean by leverage being positive or negative?”

In fact, would it be a good idea to go for a higher rate and get a rebate since I would only see the full effect of the rate increase/decrease if I were to hold the loan until all paid off?

So, to make the NOI higher, you could improve the condition of the property or improve its operational efficiency ( or decrease operational cost).

Although I also don't just have a ton of money to fork out to pay a company to manage my properties for me, I'm trying to increase income and decrease expenses.

Do you think it’d be beneficial for us to wait a bit and see if prices decrease?

With a house hack you have to consider how much you would be paying to live in the same space and also think how that will decrease over time as you raise rents, which in that area should steadily go up unless everyone really does flees the area to live on the farm. 

how do I record the value of the note, which is obviously going to decrease over time.

I'm going to wait and see if Louisiana goes on lockdown or if cases decrease.

What they forget to include is the decreasing population in most of Ohio.